Guard rail for roads



June 13, 1961 G.B1NETTI EFAL GUARD RAIL FOR ROADS Filed Jan. 27, 1959 United States Patent 2,988,332 GUARD RAIL FOR ROADS Giulio Binetti and Silvio Mangano, Turin, Italy, assignors to Centre Richerche Metallurgiche, Turin, Italy Filed Jan. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 789,368 3 Claims. (Cl. 25613.1)

Guard-rails are known which keep vehicles from slipping off the road, said guard-rails being mostly arranged along the road border at dangerous places and being supported by spaced rigid posts. The rails act resiliently at the middle of their span only and are stiff at the sup ports where impact stresses are therefore fully transmitted to the supports and anchorages without being damped.

In order to prevent such objectionable transmission of stresses to the supports and afford an effective protection of the vehicles, according to this invention the rail is secured to its supports by means of springing attachments.

According to an embodiment of this invention the springing attachment is in the form of a steel leaf having a curved middle portion for springing purposes.

Further characteristic features of this invention will be understood from the appended detailed description referring to the accompanying drawings which show by way of example an embodiment thereof.

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a length of the guard-rail,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale on line lIIIII of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detail view of FIGURE 3.

The guard-rail comprises lengths of sheet metal rails denoted by l, interconnected lengthwise and supported by spaced stationary supports in the form of pressed sheet metal posts 2 of U-shaped cross section. Depending upon the nature of the ground the supports are anchored at their base at the road border directly in the ground or in sumps 3 into which concrete is subsequently cast to improve eifectiveness of the anchorage.

The rails 1 comprise a projecting middle web 1a, capable of resiliently yielding with respect to the flanges under the action of an impact.

The rails 1 are interconnected by means of screws 4 having oval heads and are secured to the supporting post by means of spring attachment in the form of shaped steel leaves 5 of suitable thickness. The leaf springs bent to U shape are secured by their rectilinear branch 5a to the top of the supporting posts 2 by means of bolts 6, the other branch 5b being curved and having attached thereto by means of screws 4 the rails 1 at their overlapping zones.

The leaf springs 5 act as a resilient support for the rails 1 wherever vehicles may strike against them, even at their supports. Moreover, the resilient reaction of the springs on impact takes place with a gradual increment corresponding to the increase in impact. On impact the middle portion 50 acts first on account of the fact that the end 5d of the spring 5 is spaced by a certain extent on assembly from the support 2. On a more powerful impact the convex branch 5b comes into action, its end 5d sliding on resilient deformation on the bottom of the sheet metal 'U-shaped post 2, the lateral flanges of which 2,988,332 Patented June 13, 1961 guide the spring, preventing any distortion under the action of tangential forces as might arise under certain circumstances.

The rail 1 therefore acts as a spring throughout its whole length, instead of at the middle of its span only, so that any stresses on impact of the vehicle are damped and transmitted by a negligible extent only to the supporting posts without detrimentally affecting their anchorage in the ground or otherwise deteriorating them.

What we claim is:

1. A guard rail for bounding the sides of a road and comprising: supporting posts anchored in spaced upright relationship on the sides of the road for providing a rigid supporting structure, each said post having a back and sides defining channels facing the road; spring attaching means for each post, said means having an approximately U-shape with two branches, each having a free end, said one branch being rectilinear for fastening to an associated post, and said other branch being widely curved and having an outwardly convex portion with a small reversecurve portion near the free end, said outwardly convex portion of said other branch providing a first highly resilient structure and said small reversed curve portion being positioned adjacent its associated post for possible slidable contact therewith, and when in said slidable contact and engagement providing a second intermediately-resilient structure; a rail, having upper and lower edges respectively, fastened adjacent said edges to said convex portion of said spring attaching means, said rail having a center web outwardly spaced from said spring attaching means and intermediate said upper and lower fastenings, said rail providing continuous butter means between posts and spring attaching means, and said center web providing a third least-resilient structure, whereby a guard rail is provided having graduated and lessening resilience to resist increasingly deforming blows applied outwardly from said road, said lessening resilience being progressively cumulative.

2. A guard rail for roads as described in claim 1 characterized in that said spring attaching means is shaped to fit in the support post channel, the rectilinear branch of said member bolting to the back and between the sides of said post defining said channel and the small reversed curve portion of said other branch extending between said sides and into said channel adjacent to the back of said channel.

3. A guard rail for roads as described in claim 1 characterized in that said rail is bolted to each said spring attaching means by countersunk oval shaped bolts engaging associated nuts, said heads being approximately flush with the outer surface of said rail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 15,938 Utne Oct. 28, 1924 1,666,613 Woods Apr. 17, 1928 2,085,098 Height et al June 29, 1937 2,101,176 Height Dec. 7, 1937 2,163,809 Rauen June 27, 1939 2,631,014 ONeale Mar. 10, 1953 

